KL Rahul, who notched his third Test hundred on day two of the second Test against West Indies on Sunday said that his plan was to play positively from the onset of his innings.
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Ashwin also praised Rahul, who is heading towards his third Test ton after scoring his first against Australia Down Under and against hosts Sri Lanka previous year.
Seizing the welcome opportunity of finding a place in the Indian Test XI at the expense of opener Murali Vijay, Karnataka batsman KL Rahul scored his third century in whites. It was a compact innings in which he played 303 balls.
Rahul was then joined by skipper Virat Kohli 7 (21b). Each of his three centuries have come outside of India.
Another centurion from the first Test, Ravichandran Ashwin (3) was the next to go, leg before to Bishoo. With Ajinkya Rahane going strong along with Wriddhiman Saha it seems that 500 plus score in the first innings is on the cards.
India, who won the opening Test match in Antigua by an innings and 92 runs, were ahead by 162 runs with five wickets in hand. Rahul started playing his shots and reached 150 for the first time in his Test career.
2 Higher scores by visiting players in their first Test innings in West Indies, after Rahul’s 158.
India’s stubborn stand finally ended after more than fifty overs when Pujara misjudged a quick single and Chase’s direct-hit found him way short of his ground.
He reached his hundred by hoisting Chase for six to the 182nd ball he faced, and the fist-pumping celebration which followed showed how much it meant to him, despite the West Indies not being the toughest of oppositions. But with the bowlers unable to create enough chances, it took a bit of athleticism on the field for West Indies to break the 121-run second-wicket stand.
At the other end, Pujara was even more watchful, adding only 19 runs to his overnight score without ever looking in any real difficulty on a pitch that still offered its challenges to the batsmen. I think we played really well in the first session.
The West Indies bowling was disciplined, but it rarely troubled the batsmen. Shannon Gabriel bowled an extended spell, as did Miguel Cummins and the two bowled a nagging line to trouble the duo at the crease. He managed two draw two edges also but both fell short of the close in fielders. On three other occasions, he beat the batsmen with his pace and bounce.
He skipped down the track to Chase and lofted the off spinner over mid on to bring up his century with a majestic six. His first came against Australia in Sydney where he scored 110 in 2014.
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Blackwood scored a counter-attacking run-a-ball 62, and his partnership with Marlon Samuels helped West Indies counter the Indian bowling after they had been reduced to 7/3.
